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April 01, 2009
Ramos and Compean Will Go Free
In one of his last acts as President, George W. Bush commuted the sentences of two border patrol agents many conservatives consider to have been unfairly convicted of nothing more than protecting the United States of America.
Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were border patrol agents in February of 2005, when they chased down and shot a drug smuggler crossing the US-Mexican border. Ramos and Campean chased a suspicious van--which turned out to be driven by an illegal alien transporting 800 pounds of marijuana. When he couldn't outdrive the agents, the suspect jumped out of the van and (so to speak) made a run for the border.
The agents chased him, shots were fired, Campeon ended up on the ground, and Ramos fired on the suspect, believing a gun had been pointed at him.
In the event, however, the agents broke protocol, and they were setenced to 11 years for Ramos and 12 for Campion.
For the rest of President Bush's term, conservatives, especially on talk radio, prevailed upon the Bush administration to do something about the perceived injustice.
On January 19, his last full day in office, President Bush did just that, commuting the sentences. The two agents will be free men as of March 20.
Posted by Kerry at April 1, 2009 12:00 AM
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-->Comments
Kerry,
Their sentences may have been unduly harsh, but the fact remains that if you break your oath, and break the law you go to jail. You may have gotten used to the idea that the law doesn't matter under Bush if you think there is a greater good involved...but some of us don't agree with you.
As Obama put it best...
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.
Posted by ahmanrah ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.pardonmyenglish.com//nav-commenters.gif)
at January 21, 2009 07:51 PM
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